Thai Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the nine-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 55 points or 3.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,415-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Friday.

The global forecast suggests little movement ahead of the end of the year, although some profit taking is possible. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the food, finance, industrial and resource sectors were capped by weakness from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 5.42 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 1,415.85 after trading between 1,410.87 and 1,418.98. Volume was 12.992 billion shares worth 47.801 billion baht. There were 350 gainers and 128 decliners, with 178 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info and B. Grimm both dropped 0.91 percent, while Thailand Airport sank 0.83 percent, Banpu strengthened 1.49 percent, Bangkok Bank soared 2.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 0.63 percent, BTS Group increased 0.69 percent, CP All Public rallied 0.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.03 percent, Gulf gained 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank collected 1.50 percent, Krung Thai Bank and Siam Concrete both jumped 1.66 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.57 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 1.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.65 percent, SCG Packaging improved 0.70 percent, Siam Commercial Bank spiked 2.42 percent, Thai Oil rose 0.47 percent, TTB Bank surged 3.73 percent and Asset World, True Corporation, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 53.58 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 37,710.10, while the NASDAQ dipped 4.04 points or 0.03 percent to close at 15,095.14 and the S&P 500 rose 1.77 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,783.35.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in November.

While the data added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates, traders remained reluctant to make significant moves going into the end of the year.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on easing concerns about trade disruptions after several shipping companies resumed transit via the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $2.34 or 3 percent at $71.77 a barrel.